State offering security upgrades for houses of worship
The State Bond Commission on Thursday allocated $5 million for a competitive grant program offering security upgrades to nonprofit organizations including Connecticut’s synagogues, mosques and churches at a time when hate-related gun violence is occurring throughout the nation.
Religious leaders praised the award, which is the result of a 2020 law approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ned Lamont.
For the Rev. Daniel Bland, a regional bishop and senior pastor of the Mt. Calvary Revival Center in Hamden, the repeated acts of violence across the nation have prompted the need for a government response.
“We have reached an unfortunate reality that our families will now have to travel to grocery stores under this shadow, our children attend school under this shadow and even our parishioners attend our houses of worship under this shadow,” Bland told reporters in the Legislative Office building after the commission meeting.
“The rise in antisemitism and securing our institutions from that rise in antisemitism continues to be the biggest priority for the Jewish community,” said Michael Bloom, executive director of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut.
“Let’s be honest: It’s a sad day in our lives that this security is needed. Houses of worship should be able to focus on their congregations, not purchasing bulletproof glass and metal detectors. Only a handful of states have created a similar statewide nonprofit security grant program.”
“We believe in the power of prayer,” Lamont said. “God also gave us a brain, expects us to us it, to do everything we can to keep our kids safe in school and keep our worshipers safe in their houses of worship.”
“Sadly we’ve been reminded recently of why we need to make these investments,” said Jeffrey Beckham, who as secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management is Lamont’s budget chief and a member of the commission.
The funding, approved with no discussion among the 10 commission members led by Lamont, joins a previously approved $5 million as part of the 2020 law to give 501(c)(3) organizations as much as $50,000 each to perform a variety of structural improvements from reinforcing structures to installing video monitoring.
The eligibility of candidates is determined by the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. In all, $20 million has been authorized for the program and $10 million remains unallocated.
In other action, the commission approved:
$10 million to improve the industrial Silver Lane corridor near the Pratt & Whitney factory in East Hartford.
Nearly $1 million for the purchase of body cameras, dash cameras and video storage devices for several police departments, including Derby, Milford, Waterbury and West Haven.
More than $4.1 million for a new sprinkler, ceiling and light project at the Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven.
Nearly $3.5 million for the state share of the cost of the cleanup of contaminated groundwater and soil remediation, performed by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, at the Raymark superfund site in Stratford. About $4.5 million of the total $8.5 million project has already been allocated.
A $1.5 million grant-inaid for the Bridgeportbased Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute, Inc., for facility improvements at the Home for the Brave Rehabilitation Institute.
A $2 million grant to the City of Bridgeport for the Mount Growmore Hydroponic Farming Greenhouse and Wellness Campus to support indoor urban agriculture in what state Sen. Marilyn Moore told the governor is a “food desert.”